Big Willie Huber began his major junior career playing for the Hamilton Fincups of the OHA in 1975-76 and was on the team's roster when it won the Memorial Cup championship that year with the likes of Dale McCourt, Ric Seiling, Al Secord, and Al Jensen leading the way. Huber missed a good portion of the following year due to an assortment of injuries and was limited to just 36 games as the club transferred to St. Catharines, Ontario for the 1976-77 season. Despite being the class of the OHA during the regular season, the Fincups were upset in the playoffs. Huber returned to full-time action in 1977-78, when he dressed for 61 games with the Fincups, who were once again playing their home games in Hamilton. He scored 12 goals and 57 points while emerging as one of the top defensemen in the OHA.

Huber was chosen in the 1st round, 9th overall, by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. During his rookie season he played in 68 games, scoring seven goals and 31 points. He played in Detroit for five seasons in total, surpassing the 40-point plateau during the last four years. However, a nasty dispute arose between Huber and Wings general manager Jimmy Devellano during the offseason, which resulted in Huber calling the GM "a liar." Huber was sent to the New York Rangers, but Huber said the move came as a complete shock to him, believing that he was going to get a new contract with Detroit.

Huber's career continued in New York for the next four-and-a-half years before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks for 35 games in 1987-88. With the season winding down, he was traded again, to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he appeared in ten games, scoring four goals and 13 points.